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This almost reads like something out of a made for TV movie but is real.;-( Federal authorities are concerned about new research showing U.S. prisons are vulnerable to computer hackers, who could remotely open cell doors to aid jailbreaks. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is "aware of this research and taking it very seriously," spokesman Chris Burke told The Washington Times. Mr. Burke was reacting to research by private experts who found that the security systems in most American prisons are run by computer software vulnerable to hackers. "You could open every cell door, and the system would be telling the control room they are all closed," said John J. Strauchs, a former CIA operations officer who helped develop a cyber-attack on a simulated prison computer system and described it at a hackers' convention in Miami last week. The security systems in most American prisons are run by special computer equipment called industrial control systems, or ICS. They are also used to control power plants, water treatment facilities and other critical national infrastructure. ICS has increasingly been targeted by hackers because an attack on one such system successfully sabotaged Iran's nuclear program in 2009.

Hackers reportedly used an off-the-shelf computer attack created in China to compromise the computers of at least 48 companies, including in the chemical and defense industries -- an attack described as being similar to the notorious Stuxnet virus, if not as severe. The goal of the attacks, reported Monday by security software company Symantec, "appears to be to collect intellectual property such as design documents, formulas, and manufacturing processes." The purpose: "industrial espionage, collecting intellectual property for competitive advantage." Symantec dubbed the attack "Nitro" and said a total of 29 companies in the chemical industry were targeted, in addition to 19 in other sectors, starting in late July. Among the companies were some that develop materials used primarily in military vehicles. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/31/nitro-hackers-reportedly-attack-dozens-companies-in-chemical-defense-industries/?test=latestnews#ixzz1cTIClsp4

And so it begins in the real world and not in a movie, or lab demo. This is a real attack on US infrastructure via the internet. Foreign hackers broke into a water plant control system in Illinois last week and damaged a water pump in what appears to be the first reported case of a malicious cyber attack damaging a critical computer system in the United States, according to an industry expert. On Nov. 8, a municipal water district employee in Illinois noticed problems with the city's water pump control system, and a technician determined the system had been remotely hacked into from a computer located in Russia, said Joe Weiss, an industry security expert who obtained a copy of an Illinois state fusion center report describing the incident. "This is a big deal," said Weiss. The report stated it is unknown how many other systems might be affected.

The main phone network in the West Bank and Gaza has suffered a sustained attack by computer hackers, the Palestinian Authority (PA) says. It says most of the Palestinian territory has lost internet service. PA spokesman Ghassan Ghattib said the attacks started in the morning and came from multiple sources around the world. He said he did not know if the hacking was linked to the Palestinian leadership's successful bid to get membership of Unesco on Monday. The move by the UN's cultural and scientific organisation was strongly criticised by Israel and the United States. The US immediately announced it was cutting off all of its funding to UN body. Prolonged lack of access to the internet would prove costly to many Palestinian businesses.

This is more for reference and is a little dated. However, the basic approaches and techniques are still relevant and the diagrams are also useful. The approach is mostly UNIX,

yber attacks on the UK are at "disturbing" levels, according to the director of Britain's biggest intelligence agency. Government computers, along with defence, technology and engineering firms' designs have been targeted, Iain Lobban, the head of GCHQ, has said. China and Russia are thought to be among the worst culprits involved in cyber attacks. On Tuesday, the government hosts a two-day conference on the issue. Foreign Secretary William Hague convened the London Conference on Cyberspace after criticism that ministers are failing to take the threat from cyberwarfare seriously enough.